{renovate} the farm table

A few eons weeks ago, I mentioned that work was beginning on our farm table! This process took a little {okay, lot} longer than I had originally anticipated. It was by no means difficult, but the multiple coats of paint + sealer took many hours/days drying time. Coupled with work + life, this process took awhile. We also waited a few days in between our last coat and actually using the table. I've made the over-excited-mistake of using furniture before it's completely dry. It's not pretty.

And here is the result:

We love it. It came out exactly as I'd imagined. Chris and I could not agree on the legs. He wanted to leave them. I just couldn't deal with the flaky paint near food. Ick. So we compromised {like all good marriages, right?} and I lightly distressed them.

{Before}

{After}

We completely stripped the table top. What I'd originally thought was one layer, was actually three. Yikes. This added the most time to the project. I used a *green* paint stripper that took a lot longer, but smelled way less offensive. I'll tell you all about it in my next post. Originally I'd planned on staining the table top, but I ended up loving the original wood. The flaws and imperfections were perfection in and of themselves. I didn't want to risk hiding these with stain.

{Before}

{After}

If you look closely here, you can see years of wear on the table. The wood is marred with imperfections the many people try to imitate on new furniture. I love that ours is authentic.

 

Now, what to do with those BARE walls?